closing the loop on information literacy instruction Toni Carter Instruction/Reference Librarian Auburn University Libraries GaCOMO & SELA 2012

The “active” part What is one question/problem you find with assessment?

the assessment cycle 5 questions for Assessment Design Adapted from Debra Gilchrist, Megan Oakleaf, and Anne Zald OUTCOME: What do you want the student to be able to do? CURRICULUM: What does the student need to know in order to do this well? PEDAGOGY: What activities will facilitate student learning? EVIDENCE: How will the student demonstrate the learning? CRITERIA: How will I know the student has done this well?

/ Building a culture of assessment Informal: examples of what we’ve done & what you can do Formal: examples of what we’ve done & what you can do Questions? path for today Library of Congress hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsc.07536

AU libraries’ instruction program Library sessions of all types and at all levels by 17 teaching librarians: Library tours & orientations Freshman Year Experience Core Curriculum classes --English Composition --Communication Upper-division and graduate level sessions For-credit course (Chemical Literature) 642 sessions taught in 2011

building a culture of assessment Efforts led by a four member instruction team. We gather data from a variety of different assessment tools: Institution level: Project SAILS Program level: --English Department: citation analysis of research papers --School of Nursing (Theoretical Concepts of Professional Nursing): citation analysis of research papers Class level: --Peer evaluations --Student evaluation of teaching --Informal assessments: e.g., one minute papers, muddiest point --Formal assessments: worksheets completed in information literacy sessions

Assessment workshops for teaching librarians….everyone plays a role in assessment Requirements for annual evaluation and support from administration key to participation Open communication and discussion of successes and failures equally important Gradual adoption, not sudden class level

informal assessments

student-centered learning…. student-centered learning…. show us what you can do student-centered learning…. student-centered learning…. show us what you can do Active learning pedagogies ask students to DO something. We are asking our students to interact with information by: -- defining their research project/question -- applying a search strategy -- evaluating the sources they retrieve

ENGL1120 – 3 visits to the library Assessments have focused on specific learning outcomes central to seeking and using information: One I will discuss today: --Identifying keywords that describe a research topic --Examples of others Students record their thought process on worksheets which we collect --We encourage students to treat worksheets as working documents to revisit and revise -- “Carbonless” carbon paper allows students to share a copy of their work with us Student performance is evaluated according to criteria set out in a rubric formal assessments

keywordingkeywording Keywording worksheets address ACRL IL Standard 2 The information literate student accesses needed information effectively and efficiently. Performance Indicator 2: 2.: The information literate student constructs and implements effectively-designed search strategies. Outcome : Identifies keywords, synonyms and related terms for the information needed

Not choosing the correct keywords

Omitting crucial keywords

keywords/synonyms rubric #1 keywords/synonyms

keywords/synonyms rubric # 2 keywords/synonyms

keywords/synonyms/ related terms rubric # 3 keywords/synonyms/ related terms rubric # 3

more formal assessments: evaluating sources scholarly/popular

more formal assessments: evaluating sources web sources

so what? Workshops allow librarians to share experiences of what they have learned and how they have improved their teaching Teaching tips for common outcomes posted to LibGuide Better class level teaching should result in better programmatic and institutional assessments We are hopefully beginning to “close the loop”

questions?? & thank you! Toni Carter